


You're Mine I Just Don't Know It Yet

by AWildOreo



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 12,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24981142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AWildOreo/pseuds/AWildOreo
Summary: Naoto does not know how she feels about Kanji.Shadow Naoto 100% does.Kanji's caught in the crossfire,and the rest of the team have no idea what to do.(Also includes the rest of P4)
Relationships: Shirogane Naoto/Tatsumi Kanji
Comments: 22
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly this is just a self-indulgent fic  
> Tbh I ship these two so hard I wanted this so I made it.

Naoto Shirogane was someone who prided themselves at being able to figure things out using logic. Under normal circumstances, she could use said logic to find out the culprit in a case.

Unfortunately, no amount of logic could make sense of what was happening to her at the moment. After failing to see the killer after using herself as bait, she found herself trapped in a foggy room containing what looked like an operating table, with a saw and drill suspended over it. There were also many monitors, displaying what seemed to be security footage of the facility she was in. And-

“Why do you keep ignoring me!?”

…the child.

Somehow, to the detective’s complete and utter confusion, there was a being that looked and dressed almost exactly like her, minus the gleaming yellow eyes and oversized lab coat.

“You know we are always alone! So why would you ignore yourself!”

This was probably the third time the copy mentioned that, and it was already grating on Naoto.

Her and it? The same person? Impossible. Even if one person could split into two beings, there was no way Naoto would whine so much. So, she continued ignoring the copy and turned her eyes to the security footage.

Recently, alarms had informed the copy that there were intruders in the facility. When she glanced at the footage for the first time, she saw the teenagers that had stuck their noses into the case, and both grinned and grimaced internally. She was glad that she was going to be rescued, but upset that she needed rescuing in the first place.

Now, she was watching the teens traverse through the hallways. Specifically, she was looking at Kanji Tatsumi, the delinquent of the group. Or, that was what most people thought of him. The detective knew that yes, Tatsumi was rough around the edges, but-

“You like him, don’t you?”

Naoto jumped. She didn’t hear the copy sneak up when it essentially whispered that comment into her ear.

Naoto narrowed her eyes at the copy. “Like who?”

The copy’s eyes practically glowed when it replied, “Kanji-kun, duh!”

“Tatsumi-san is amicable once you get to know him. That is true with most people. I fail to see what you are getting at, however.”

“You like him more than the others!”

“I believe I would like anyone more than another person if they were to help rescue me.”

At the word “rescue”, the copy practically lunged at the young detective, trying to hug her, failing only because she dodged at the last second. Tears started dripping down the copy’s eyes.

“Rescue!?” It wailed, “they cannot! I refuse to be left alone again!”

Naoto internally rolled her eyes. _How could this child ever claim to be me?_

“If you were me, then I would be alone with myself, and thus truly alone.”

At those words, the copy froze. It stopped crying, eyes wide, as if this was a revelation to it. It then slowly took a more relaxed posture. It was as if a whole new person was standing in front of Naoto.

“I suppose that is true.” The copy’s voice had become deeper, more composed. “This problem must be dealt with quickly.” Its eyes rose to look at the security footage. A somewhat malicious grin appeared as it stared right at the person the two were conversing about. “How about the one you like?”

Naoto’s eyes widened. “What-“

“He might seem like a delinquent, but he has a kind heart. He would help children in need, and he cares for some of the stray animals. You do realize that you watched him more than the others as you kept your eye on them, no?”

Naoto could only stutter as the being said these things that only she should know and gasped as its sleeved hands grabbed her collar and shoved her onto the operating table, clamps restraining her arms and legs. The being then covered Naoto’s mouth with an oversized sleeve, preventing her from saying anything.

“I cannot trust you to be unrestrained as I do this. I will return, with Tatsumi in tow. Now, rest, as you will need it for the body alteration procedure.”

The being then left, leaving the detective to reflect over recent events. However, it was difficult since she was beginning to get a headache. Unable to do much else, Naoto decided to take the being’s words to heart and closed her eyes, hoping that she had not messed things up too horribly.


	2. Chapter 2

Kanji Tatsumi was really uncomfortable. There was something about this place that just wasn’t right, there was the lack of communication from Naoto’s Shadow (the only voice he and the team heard was an automated voice telling them to leave), and regular Shadows never made a dungeon homey. There was one other thing bugging him, though.

“Hey Senpai,” he called to the leader, Yu Narukami, “d’ya feel like we’re bein' watched?”

Yosuke Hanamura, another one of Kanji’s senpai, laughed. “It’s probably Rise constantly scanning us. What are you, scared?”

Kanji growled, but before he could say anything back, Rise Kujikawa, Kanji’s classmate and resident navigator, spoke up. “No, I get what Kanji’s saying. You shouldn’t feel my Persona’s scanning, and besides, it wouldn’t feel like _this_.”

Yu nodded. “It kind of feels like you’re going to get ambushed at any second. If I had to guess, there are probably some sort of security cameras around. It wouldn’t be out of place here.”

Yosuke seemed to get it. “Whatever you say partner.”

The team walked up to a locked door that wanted a “Research Card” from them. Before Yu could unlock the door, Teddie, another part of the team, shouted “Wait! My nose is telling me that there’s a big grizzly behind these doors!”

Rise summoned Himiko and grimaced. “Teddie’s right, guys. Whatever’s behind that door is going to be pretty tough. Make sure you’re prepared.”

Yu looked over at everyone on the team. “You guys ok for this?”

Yosuke grinned and flipped one of his knives. “All good, partner!”

“I’m still rawr-ing to go, Sensei!” Teddie replied.

Kanji flexed and looked over to Yu. “Ready to kick some ass, Senpai!”

As the doors slowly opened, the first thing the teenagers saw was a huge red robot. Then they saw a treasure chest not far behind it. There was little chance they were getting what was in that chest without fighting that big robot.

That turned into zero chance as the robot activated as soon as they stepped past the door. “INTRUDERS DETECTED,” it boomed, “COMMENCING ELIMINATION PROCEDURE.”

It then proceeded to use Power Charge followed by Herculean Strike, blasting everyone except Rise back. Kanji went flying past the door, and everyone else hit a wall.

Rise was giving advice even as people went flying past her. “Guys, this thing can only really use those two skills, so time your moves, ok? By the way, Kanji’s out, can someone revive him?” She then gasped. “KANJ-“

Distracted by their navigator’s voice cutting off, the boys turned to see an unconscious Rise on the floor, and a figure picking up Kanji.

Yosuke’s eyes widened. “H-hey, is that…?“

“It is.” Yu answered. “That’s Naoto’s Shadow.”

The Shadow glanced over to the team, gave a smirk, and walked away with its quarry, doors closing behind it.

Teddie whimpered. “This is beary bad…”

Yosuke turned back to the robot they had to defeat. “Now’s not the time for the puns, bear! We have to deal with this!” His voice then lowered a bit. “Being a man down and having no navigator doesn’t help either…”

This was going to be a long fight.


	3. Chapter 3

Dodging the Dominating Machine’s attacks was a lot more difficult than it seemed. Even though its moves were slow, it hit like a truck, and it ate all the moves everyone threw at it. Only Teddie’s ice attacks were doing any real damage, but he also was covering healing, so Yu had to switch his Persona to back Teddie and do as much damage as possible.

Yosuke was basically relegated to making sure Rise didn’t get mutilated. He glanced at the closed doors behind him and sighed. “This is just great,” he mumbled to himself, “We have to rescue two people now, Rise is knocked out, and we’re locked in with a giant, crazy robot. What a great day.”

“Yosuke!” Yu yelled behind him, “if you have time to grumble about that you can revive Rise!”

“Got it!” Yosuke shouted back before starting to sift around the items the team had, looking for a revival bead for Rise, and wondering if Kanji was having a better time than the rest of them.

* * *

Kanji was not having a better time than the rest of the boys. In fact, this was probably one of the toughest things he had to deal with. He did not expect to wake up as a pillow for his crush after being blasted back by a robot, but that was what happened.

And it triggered his fight or flight responses almost immediately.

The only reason the punk didn’t flee then and there was because the detective was asleep on him, and he didn’t want to wake Naoto. It still didn’t stop him from tensing up, though. Fighting Shadows was way easier than this! At least they couldn’t talk and look cute!

Kanji looked around and saw on some screens the rest of the team still fighting that robot and frowned when he saw Yosuke by a downed Rise. That didn’t look good…

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard giggling coming from right outside his field of vision. He turned his head and found himself face to face with yellow eyes. He froze as Shadow Naoto smiled, lifted an arm, and caressed Kanji’s face. “Naoto sees so much in you,” it purred, “they do not know it yet, though.”

Kanji didn’t know what was more unbelievable, Naoto seeing something in Kanji, or the fact that their Shadow was touching him in the first place.

* * *

It was at this moment that Naoto woke up. She was confused, since what she was laying on was much softer than anything in the room. As her senses came back to her, she realized that she was resting **_on top of someone_**. The detective flew to her feet as fast as possible, willing her heart to stop beating so hard and the blush on her face to disappear. She then noticed that the person that she was on was Tatsumi, and frowned. _The being was true to its word_ , she thought to herself. She then remembered what it said before it left. _The body alteration procedure? What does it intend to do?_

The copy grinned and clapped its hands together. “You both are awake! Wonderful! Now we can play together!”

Tatsumi audibly gulped. “P-play…?” He seemed apprehensive to what the copy was saying.

The copy nodded. “Uh-huh, we’ll have so much fun! We are going to do a date!”

Naoto’s breath hitched. A date? With Tatsumi? That was preposterous, why on Earth would anyone ever agree to that? Tatsumi seemed to have similar thoughts, since it seemed that he was choking on air, and was coughing incredibly loudly.

“Could we do anything else,” Naoto proposed as she glanced at the security footage, “Such as watching Narukami and his friends defeat your robot?”

“ _WHAT!_ ” The copy screeched. Everyone’s heads moved to watch the security where the fight was taking place. The robot seemed as if it would topple at any moment, but so did Narukami and the others. The copy calmed down and smoothed out its lab coat. “I suppose,” the cool voice of the being said, “It could be entertaining to watch your so-called saviors drop to my Dominating Machine.”

It was quiet, but Naoto could have sworn she heard Tatsumi murmur “More like your robot’s gonna be dominated.” She allowed the smallest of smiles at those words.

The being’s eyes flickered over to Tatsumi for a moment, before returning to the monitors. “We shall see.”


	4. Chapter 4

The battle against the Dominating Machine seemed to be going well for Yu and his team. Yosuke managed to revive Rise pretty quickly and was back in the fight soon after. However, Yu and Teddie were running on fumes at this point, and there was one more confusing thing. The robot, sparking at its joints, seemed to have given up fighting.

Rise, thankfully fully awake at that point, realized why that was the case.

“Guys, it’s not attacking because it’s going to blow up soon,” she breathed.

Yosuke yelped. “Crap, and we can’t get out because the exit’s locked!”

Yu readied another attack. “Then we’ll have to hit it as hard as possible beforehand. Teddie, do you think you can do any more spells?”

“I think I have enough for a couple of Bufulas, Sensei!”

Rise spoke up. “I’ll tell you guys when it’s about to blow then.”

Yu looked over to Yosuke. “Yosuke, try using a physical attack to see if you can knock it down.”

“Alright then, partner!” Yosuke then ran up to the machine. “Go, Jiraiya! Power Slash!”

The green and white persona slashed at the robot, causing it to sway but not fall. “Damn,” Yosuke swore, “Sorry, guess you’ll have to deal with it standing up.”

“It’s fine, Yosuke,” Yu replied, “Teddie, are you ready?”

“Yes Sensei!”

“Black Frost! Bufula!”

“Kintoki-Douji! Bufula!”

Both personas’ ice moves crashed into the Dominating Machine, but it still stood tall.

“It’s almost done charging up!” Rise called out. “But its health is incredibly low. If you attack again it’ll probably be destroyed!”

Yu steeled himself for what was probably the final attack. “Time to pull out all the stops. I think I have enough energy to do this…Mind Charge!” Black Frost appeared and focused Yu for his next attack. “Yosuke, I know your attacks aren’t the strongest against it, but you need to join the attack. The extra damage will probably be the tipping point.”

Yosuke only grinned and readied himself in response.

“Black Frost! Bufula!”

“Kintoki-Douji! Bufula!

“Jiraiya! Garula!”

The ice and wind moves blasted the robot, causing it to collapse. Strangely, it was only in pieces, instead of dissolving into a black fog like most Shadows do when defeated.

Rise gasped, “Guys, back away now!”

Everyone jumped back just as the robot exploded. Luckily, the explosion was much smaller than what would have happened if the machine had fully charged. The team still took a bit of damage, however.

Yosuke groaned. “That fight was totally unfair! I mean, not only did Kanji get kidnapped, but that stupid robot ate all our attacks, too! That stupid Leader Card better be in that chest!”

As Yosuke was griping about the fight that just happened, Yu walked over to the treasure chest and opened it. As Yosuke hoped, the Leader Card was inside, meaning that the team could continue through the dungeon.

Not that they were going to continue right at this moment. Even the leader was about to drop dead at any moment.

Yu pulled out a Goho-m. “As much as I want to go rescue Kanji and Naoto-kun right now,” he started, “I think we all need to take a rest for today. Yukiko and Chie might have plenty of energy, but I for one need to sleep.”

Yosuke nodded. “Not even the fox’s leaves could help us now, huh partner?”

The four all halfheartedly giggled as the energy of the Goho-m whisked them back to the entrance of the base.

As the four appeared at the entrance, Chie Satonaka and Yukiko Amagi were there waiting.

Chie looked over at the team and winced. “What happened in there? You guys look like you took a beating! And where’s Kanji-kun? Shouldn’t he be with you guys?”

“I’ll explain on the way back.” Yu said with short breaths.

Back at the studio backlot, Chie and Yukiko were shocked at the events that transpired in the secret base.

Chie spoke up. “So, Kanji-kun got captured by Naoto-kun’s Shadow, and you guys almost died fighting a big robot?”

The four who explored nodded.

“Ok, that’s not good for one. And another thing, how are we going to explain Kanji’s disappearance?”

Yosuke spoke up for that answer. “That’s easy, we can say that us guys all had a sleepover at Yu’s place. It doesn’t even have to happen.”

Teddie’s eyes widened at the thought of a sleepover. “Oh, Yosuke, can we stay at Sensei’s place, please?”

“Wha- no, bear! We can’t just barge into another person’s place and just sleep there! We haven’t even asked!”

Yu grinned. “I can ask Dojima, he probably won’t mind. It’ll probably be good for morale, and Teddie can see Nanako, too.”

Teddie squealed with glee as Yosuke facepalmed. “You’re too nice, partner,” he groaned.

“Umm,” The voice of Yukiko cut through, “I understand that the sleepover plan would work for tonight, but what about tomorrow?”

“Then we’ll just have to rescue the two of them tomorrow, then.” Rise replied.

Everyone else grunted in agreement.

“You better let us tag along next time, leader!” Chie said, “You’ll need all the help you can get!”

“Alright then,” Yu replied as everyone left the TV world.


	5. Chapter 5

“No! No no no no NO NO NO!” The copy wailed as the teens disappeared from the screens. Naoto couldn’t tell exactly what happened in the fight, mostly due to the fog in the room obscuring her vision, but she knew that the teens had triumphed, even with that explosion at the end. Now the copy was throwing a tantrum because of its loss. “They will come!” It cried, “They will take you two away from me!”

 _We do not belong here in the first place,_ thought Naoto as she looked at Tatsumi, who seemed to be celebrating the victory of his comrades, doing a small fist pump and having a wide grin on his face.

The copy seemed to get over its sadness soon after and ran over to Naoto, trying to grab her arm, but failing as the detective dodged it. “It does not matter,” it said with a small smile, “There are still things that need to be done!”

Tatsumi looked confused. “Like what?”

“Well, there is the body alteration procedure!”

He grimaced.

“And the date!”

At those words, Tatsumi’s face became incredibly red. _He must think that it would be embarrassing as well,_ Naoto thought.

“I w-wouldn’t mind, if Naoto wanted…” was Tatsumi’s quiet response.

_Wait, what?_

Naoto could not believe it. Tatsumi would willingly go on a date with her? He did not even know she was a girl! Unless…

The copy seemed surprised as well. “Wait, you would do it willingly? We thought you did not know!”

Tatsumi blinked. “Didn’t know what?”

Naoto’s heart raced. She couldn’t let Tatsumi know of her secret!

The copy’s eyes locked with Naoto’s as it smirked. “Naoto is-“

“INTERESTED IN YOU!” she blurted out before she could think of anything to say. Both the copy and Tatsumi raised an eyebrow at her outburst. “W-what I meant to say,” she stammered, “is that I would like to get to know you better, since we are locked here together. I also believe that this will satisfy the request for a quote-unquote _date_.” Naoto looked at the copy for confirmation.

The being shrugged. “That is not really what I had in mind, but I suppose that it is a start.” It turned towards the operating table and started walking to it. “I will leave you two to yourselves, then. I must prepare for the procedure.”

Naoto faced Tatsumi, who seemed to be struggling to get his words out. She braced herself the conversation she never imagined having in her life.

* * *

Kanji knew that Naoto was hiding something big when they interrupted their Shadow. Shadows always told those huge secrets that their other selves hid to whoever’s listening. Kanji didn’t want to dig too deeply, since it wasn’t his business really in the first place, but it was probably going to be said in the big confrontation with the rest of the group, anyway. He was surprised that Naoto’s Shadow dropped the topic so easily, though.

The punk noticed that Naoto was standing there, facing him, looking uncomfortable. He decided to start with what the detective had blurted out. “Interested in me, huh,” Kanji said, eyes toward the ground, “T-that’s what you said when we first met.”

Naoto tensed. “Well,” they started, “I suppose I misled you at the time. I had said that because I believed you were the next target for the killer. I apologize if you were thinking of something else when you heard me. I promise that this time it does not have anything to do with my job as a detective.”

Kanji nodded. Now what does he talk about? He didn’t think Naoto would care for small talk, even if they were on a “date”. Even he could tell the detective had the social skills of a rock. It was the case, 24/7.

So it was a surprise when Naoto spoke up. “I saw you once gave a stuffed animal to a young boy. Where did you get it from?”

“O-oh, well,” Kanji couldn’t help but blush and scratch the back of his head from embarrassment, “I made it.”

Naoto’s eyes widened in amazement. “You made it? That is incredible, Tatsumi-san!”

“It was nothin’, really. Could probably make ‘em in my sleep. And could you call me Kanji? We’re the same year and all.”

“Of course, Tats-Kanji…kun?”

Kanji supposed that with how Naoto worked, that would be about as informal as it would get. “Good enough.”

The two managed to get into a casual conversation, and Kanji was reeling at how much he was learning about the detective. About how they like detective novels, and how when they were younger, they would mess with electronics and make tools that a detective would use. Each new piece of information made Naoto look cooler than they already were. It made him think about how uninteresting his life was compared to Naoto.

* * *

Naoto had no idea what possessed her to reveal information about her past like she did, but to her surprise, she was somewhat happy. Someone would listen to her and accept it. It was one of the reasons that she thought ~~Ta~~ Kanji was an admirable person. He also cared for others, even if he showed it in unconventional ways. That time he chased bikers making noise at night in the Shopping District? Their noise was waking up his mother. He did not pry when she refused a question either. Everything about Kanji made Naoto relax, but not completely since she still had to worry about the being on the other side of the room. It was right, though. She did like Kanji Tatsumi.


	6. Chapter 6

Not long after their conversation finished, Naoto fell asleep. Kanji assumed that Naoto was being affected by the fog, so he sat near them as a sort of lookout. Kanji had no idea what his own Shadow did when he was unconscious, and he didn’t want anything to happen to Naoto when they were out.

Looking towards the screens, Kanji saw that the team still hadn’t come back yet. _They must’ve gone back,_ he realized. _That fight took too much outta ‘em, so they left. Kinda wish they hadn’t, though._ He looked toward the operating table.

Only to see that Naoto’s Shadow wasn’t there. He panicked and started looking around for his captor, and went rigid as oversized sleeves wrapped around him from the back.

“Well,” the Shadow’s smooth voice whispered, “Look who is being a knight in shining armor.”

“Ain’t doin’ nothin’…” Kanji mumbled.

“You certainly are not doing nothing,” it replied, “You did not have to sit so close to Naoto, there is plenty of space in this room that you could watch from.” The Shadow giggled and tightened its hold on Kanji, snuggling into his back.

Kanji was terrified, who knows what Naoto’s Shadow could do in this position. Mustering up courage, he voiced a question he had. “What’s this ‘body altering procedure’ thing, anyway?”

The Shadow unwrapped its arms, keeping a hand on the delinquent’s shoulder, and stepped into his line of sight, grinning wildly. “We are going to become what we want to be!”

Kanji supposed the “we” mentioned was just relating to Naoto, but he was still confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

That must have been the wrong thing to ask, since the Shadow’s eyes narrowed and the hand on Kanji’s shoulder tightened until it was almost painful. “It will be a momentous occasion. That is all you need to know.”

“O-ok,” Kanji squeaked.

The hand on Kanji’s shoulder loosened slightly. “You know,” it started, “someone will need to make sure no one will interrupt the operation.”

Kanji gaped. “What makes ya think I’d help _you_ out?”

The Shadow growled and shoved Kanji’s back into the ground. “What makes you think you have a choice?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Kanji saw something moving underneath the Shadow’s free sleeve. The arm then moved too quickly to be seen and jammed into Kanji’s other shoulder, revealing a syringe filled with some sort of pinkish liquid.

Kanji yelped and curled up on himself, grabbing the area where he got stabbed. He started breathing heavily.

Naoto’s Shadow picked itself up, crazed smile on its face. “I do believe you would be _charmed_ to help!” It then cackled like a mad scientist. “I knew you would attempt to stop me eventually, so I created this so you could not. You will not want to leave, either!”

 _Great,_ Kanji thought, eyes becoming unfocused, _I’ll be this thing’s toy._ He felt like he was underwater now, and his limbs were too heavy to move. His eyes closed as he resigned to his fate. _Sorry guys,_ was his last thought before he blacked out.


	7. Chapter 7

“Wake up. It is time for the body alteration procedure.”

Naoto felt herself being picked up from the back and slowly opened her eyes. In front of her was the being, with a small smile on its face. _Wait_ , she thought, _if this being is in front of me…_ ”

Turning her head, the detective saw that she was being held by Kanji. “K-kanji-kun?” She gasped, “what is the meaning of this?”

Looking closer, Naoto realized that Kanji’s eyes seemed to be missing the light in them, and that the boy carried himself in a different way. She glared at the being. “What did you do.”

“I made sure he would help and never leave us.” The being flicked its eyes towards the security footage. It seemed incredibly agitated now.

Looking at the screens, Naoto saw all of Narukami’s group huddled by the door that she assumed was to her prison. “You are too late. They are here.”

“There is still time!” The copy snapped, flinging its arms childishly. “They may be here, but they will not stop the operation!”

The door to the room then rumbled and slowly opened, revealing the teenagers.

Naoto tilted her head to face them. “You finally arrived. I was about at my wit’s end with this child.”

The copy started to break down. “No, no! You cannot take them! I cannot be left alone again!”

Hanamura blinked. “ _That’s_ Naoto’s Shadow? Seems completely different than what we saw before. Looks like a scared little kid.”

_They are still going on about this Shadow and Persona garbage? Also, that copy is mine? They have no idea what they are talking about._

Satonaka looked at Kanji, worried. “Are we just going to ignore the fact that Kanji-kun is holding Naoto hostage?”

“Well, no, But…”

_They certainly have strange priorities…_

The copy was still crying, wiping its eyes with oversized sleeves. “Why? Why am I always alone!? I am going to be alone forever…” It stopped wiping its eyes to stare at Naoto, yellow eyes filled with unfallen tears. “You know what it is like, do not leave me alone!”

Naoto scoffed. The copy was getting on her final nerve. “We may share the same face, but do not imply that you and I are the same.”

The copy abruptly stopped crying and glared at the detective. “Why delude yourself? I am you.” The being stepped closer to Naoto. “You know what they all say: you are just a little kid. They only want you for your brain, those smarts you hold inside. Once they are done, then it is back to the playpen with you.”

Naoto started struggling to get out of Kanji’s grip, but the larger boy was too strong for her. The being grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at it.

“I am ready to grow up,” it growled. “I am ready for people to see me for who I really am.” It then closed its eyes and started crying again. “I…I want a reason to stay!”

Naoto shook her head out of the being’s grip and glared at it. “Enough. I can find my own reason to stay alive.” _How does this thing know about these thoughts? I have never once told anyone about them._

The being’s tears seemed to magically disappear. “Heh, that is impossible. You are but a child!” It then began to caress Naoto’s face. “You want to be like all those cool and strong men in the detective novels, correct? You must know that you are nothing of the sort; you are only a child.”

Naoto eyed the ground. “No…s-stop it…”

The being backed away from Naoto and turned towards the operating table. “Our analysis is now complete! We can now begin the body alteration procedure!” It then turned its head towards the detective, knowing smirk on its face. “You have no objections, do you… _Naoto_ Shirogane?”

Naoto’s eyes snapped back to the being’s as she gasped. It would not _dare_ say anything about her true gender! Before she could speak, however, Kanji covered her mouth with one of his hands.

“Naoto Shirogane, what a cool, masculine name you have!” The being turned back to face Naoto and eyed the teenagers. “But a name does not change the truth, it does not let you cross the barrier between sexes!”

Naoto heard Narukami breathe from across the room. “Oh.”

The being’s eyes glowed as it asked, “How could you ever become an ideal man if you were never male to begin with?”

The teens gasped. Naoto heard Satonaka say “Wait, did I hear that right?” while Hanamura said “He’s not a dude?” She also could have sworn Kanji’s grip got the slightest bit looser.

Naoto shook her head until her mouth was freed. She was trembling in rage towards the being. “I will not throw a tantrum over this,” she seethed, “it accomplishes nothing.”

The being cackled. “You often heard that from the adults, no? ‘Throwing a tantrum won’t solve anything, Naoto-kun’, and other such bilge!”

The being gave a sad smile. “They made you cry. And now you are doing the exact same thing, why?” It walked back up to Naoto and trailed a finger across her chin. “You can stop pushing yourself, I know exactly how you feel, I promise! After all… I am you.”

Naoto could not stand listening to this… _fake_ for any longer. “That is not true!”

Narukami’s group winced after hearing that. What, did they think she was going to _accept_ that fake’s words?

The fake giggled darkly, predatory grin on its face. “There is also Kanji-kun. I can help you two stay together forever~”

That was the last straw. “Why do you always bring him up! Stop it! You may look like me, you may sound like me, but you are NOT ME!”

The fake looked like something snapped inside it, then started laughing maniacally. What seemed like darkened fog gathered around it and surrounded it until it could not be seen at all.

Through that time, Naoto could not keep her eyes open. She suddenly felt so weak. She felt Kanji move her onto the table and chain her wrists and ankles. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was seeing a robotic version of herself appearing.

She hoped the teens did not fail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I pretty much skimmed the anime and game cutscene for this. I didn't want it to be a carbon copy of either one but some parts were so good I literally just copied it.
> 
> Me to me: I want to skip this part of the confrontation  
> Also me to me: But that's important, keep it in
> 
> rip


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Midway through typing this chapter I realized that a bunch of people were using -dyne moves instead of -la moves and instead of editing that I'm just going to say that between them coming back and the boss fight happening a few level ups happened.  
> oops i dont care

“I am a Shadow, the true self.”

Shadow Naoto may not have been as large or menacing as the other Shadow selves, but Yu knew that looks could be deceiving. It hovered in the air using jet boots, and looked down at the team, as if analyzing them.

“Hmph,” the Shadow’s mechanical voice started. “If you believe I am your only opponent, you are sorely mistaken.” At its words, Kanji took a fighting stance almost directly underneath Shadow Naoto. “Let us see if you have the heart to attack your friend!”

Kanji summoned his Persona. “Take-Mikazuchi, Mazionga!”

Lightning crashed into the entire team as they screamed in pain. Yosuke and Teddie got the worst of it as they were knocked down.

Shadow Naoto giggled as it aimed its two guns at the Investigation Team. “Let us begin the special operation!”

Teddie used this time to get back on his feet. “Operation?” He squeaked, “I hate ouchies!”

“Who doesn’t?” Yosuke groaned as he picked himself up from the floor.

Yu readied himself. “Get ready.”

Rise summoned Himiko. “Alright guys, this is going to be pretty hard. Tha-” She gulped. “That’s a lot of skills. Ok, so we all know what Kanji’s weak to, but Shadow Naoto resists fire. Yosuke-senpai, think you can take on Kanji while we fight Naoto?”

“What? I mean, I guess, but Kanji can kick my ass just as easily!” He began to run towards Kanji.

Yukiko followed Yosuke. “Let me help. I can’t do as much damage against Naoto-kun’s Shadow, and I can heal you if you take too much damage.”

The rest of the team started to fight Shadow Naoto.

“Seiryuu, Ziodyne!”

“Tomoe, Black Spot!”

“Kintoki-Douji, Bufudyne!”

The shadow dodged two of the attacks, but the lightning struck true, knocking it back a few feet.

“Senpai,” Rise called out, “electric moves do more damage than normal!”

“Use buffs, now!” Yu ordered, “Mind Charge!”

“Persona,” called Chie, “Power Charge!”

“Bearsona! Matarukaja!” Teddie summoned his Persona with enthusiasm and boosted the attack of his teammates.

Shadow Naoto quickly recovered. “Such irritating patients,” it hissed, “do you _want_ to die?” It then said something to itself too quietly to be heard by the others, and something shimmered around it.

Chie stepped up to give her answer, ignoring what just happened. “Hell no! Black Spot!”

Tomoe raced towards the robotic Shadow right as Rise yelled, “WAIT!”

But it was too late, as the attack boosted, Power Charged Black Spot slammed right into a Tetrakarn, reflecting all the damage back to Chie, sending her flying into a wall and knocking her out.

Naoto’s Shadow took advantage of its opponents’ shock to launch an attack. “Galgalim Eyes!” A beam shot out of the Shadow’s eye and struck Teddie, causing him to drop and enervating him.

“Teddie!” Yu took out one of his Hiranya Cabbages to help the bear.

The Shadow had other ideas. “I will not allow it!” It yelled as it tackled Yu.

The force of the strike caused Yu to drop the cabbage, and it rolled toward Yosuke and Yukiko.

* * *

Yosuke was spending most of his time trying to avoid getting hit by Kanji’s electric moves, and it was kind of annoying him, especially since Kanji got a few lucky hits in and Yukiko had to heal him. He really needed something to turn the tide of the fight.

So when he saw one of Yu’s cabbages slowly roll his way, an idea popped into his head. “Hey, Rise-chan! Whatever’s up with Kanji is kind of like the other statuses we deal with, right?”

“Uh, yeah!”

“Yukiko, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Yukiko looked determined. “I believe so.”

Yosuke picked up the cabbage and tossed it to Yukiko. “When I knock him down, give it to him.” He then dodged one of Kanji’s Ziongas, and summoned Jiraiya. “Garudyne!”

The attack struck true, blasting the delinquent onto his back. Yukiko then ran up to Kanji and basically force fed him a few of the cabbage’s leaves. The cabbage didn’t seem to be working, so Yukiko slapped his face hard to see if that would work. Kanji stopped moving and blinked a few times, light returning to his eyes.

* * *

Kanji’s face was stinging as the world came back into focus. The last thing he remembered was Shadow Naoto piercing him with a syringe. As his vision came back, he noticed that Yosuke and Yukiko were standing over him.

“Hey Senpai,” Kanji groaned, “what’d I miss?”

“Nothing much,” Yosuke replied. “Just you and Naoto’s Shadow beating the crap out of us.”

“Shit, really!?” Kanji scrambled to his feet.

The three looked over to where the others were and saw Rise trying to revive an unconscious Chie, an enervated Teddie not knowing what to do, and Yu frantically dodging the Shadow’s attacks while switching Personas to make sure the damage taken is minimal.

Yukiko cast Mediarama while Yosuke got ready to dash back into battle. He turned toward the tall boy. “You ready, Kanji?”

“Hell yeah, I’ve got a few words I wanna share with that bastard!”

The three all ran towards Naoto’s Shadow.

“Konohana Sakuya, Agidyne!”

“Go, Garudyne!”

“Take-Mikazuchi, Torrent Shot!”

At Kanji’s yell, Shadow Naoto froze and turned to face him, only for the three moves to smash right into it, causing it to be stunned.

Yu, panting, came up to them. “Good to have you back, Kanji.”

“Thanks, Senpai.”

Chie, back from the dead with Teddie in tow, came up to the group. “We should strike while it's down!”

Yu looked right at Kanji. “You want to lead the charge?”

“Yeah, Senpai!” He turned toward the downed Shadow. “Let’s go!”

As the group began their All-Out Attack, Rise called out, “I’ll help!” She used Himiko to boost their attack.

After the attack was finished, the Shadow seemed to glare at the punk. “Why…” It shook its head. “Very well, I will just have to add you to the operating table!” It aimed its guns at the group. “Element Zero!”

An energy field rushed over the team. “Watch out,” Rise yelled, “that took away any resistances you might’ve had!”

“Maziodyne!” The lightning struck almost everybody, but Yosuke and Teddie luckily dodged.

Kanji grit his teeth as he got hit. Not resisting electricity made it hurt a lot more than normal. He’d have to end this as soon as possible. He then got an idea.

“Senpai! Let me handle this!”

“Alright.”

Kanji summoned his Persona. “Let’s do this, Take-Mikazuchi! Charge up your fists with Zionga!”

The large Persona then rushed the smaller Shadow. It was still somewhat reeling from the All-Out Attack and didn’t notice Take-Mikazuchi until an electrified fist slammed into its face.

“That’s for all the bullshit ya pulled!” Kanji vented, “Senpai, you’re up!”

Yu stepped up next to Kanji. “Seiryuu, Ziodyne!” The Mind Charged Ziodyne crashed into Shadow Naoto, who was attempting to get back up. It collapsed completely, reverting to its more human form.

Yu ran over to the operating table where Naoto was and broke the manacles holding her in place. She started to stir.

* * *

“So, Naoto was a girl.” That was Amagi. Naoto groaned, she didn’t want anyone knowing her gender for a reason. Now they would all leave, and no one would respect her.

She heard intense stuttering from another person and she opened her eyes. _Kanji_ , Naoto realized, _I have to apologize to him for all of this_.

Kanji was blushing. “N-naoto’s a girl?”

Naoto sat up on the table. “Yes, Kanji-kun. I am a girl.” She then saw the Shadow past the teenagers, looking dejected.

Naoto got off the operating table and walked towards the Shadow. “When I was young, my parents died, and my grandfather took me in. I was bad at making friends, so I spent my time reading detective novels.”

The Shadow perked up. “When I grow up… I want to be a cool, hard-boiled detective!”

Naoto nodded. “My parents were proud of their job, and I wanted to follow them. Most people would feel stifled when put into an inherited position, but I welcomed it. I was always alone… my Grandfather must have felt that it was his duty to help realize my dream… he secretly let me help in his cases, and soon I was known as Junior Detective. I was delighted at first, but not everything went smoothly. Not everyone liked that a child half their age was solving cases. If they ever learned that I was a girl, that would be the end of it. No one would want to work with a female detective.”

Kanji crossed his arms. “You don’t know that.”

“Unfortunately, I do know. Detectives and policework are male oriented jobs. Women have no place in them. If they knew…well, I would not be needed anymore.”

“I dunno about that, but what I do know is that you’re a damn good detective, girl or not. If someone’s gonna give you shit ‘cause of it, then you gotta show your stuff. Show ‘em how strong ya are!”

Naoto’s eyes widened slightly. Kanji didn’t care what she was, and he accepted her anyway. She realized she needed to do that for herself.

She addressed the Shadow. “I am sorry for always ignoring you… pretending you do not exist. But I am you, and you are me. You have always been inside of me. What I must yearn for… no. What I must strive for is not to become a man, but to accept myself for who I am.”

The Shadow gave a large smile and glowed with a blue light. With a flash of the light, it transfigured into a small humanoid wearing a lot of blue with white wings before turning into a card and disappearing.

“Sukuna-Hikona” was all Naoto could whisper before she collapsed. But before she could hit the ground, Kanji caught her.

“Dumbass,” he mumbled, “coulda gotten yourself killed.”

Naoto let out a cough. “I had no doubt in my mind that you all would rescue me.”

Narukami nodded. “Well, it’s time we got back.”

Kanji helped Naoto up and scratched the back of his head. “Do ya need help walking or anything? I know you don’t really like that but…”

Normally, Naoto would assume that the person asking was thinking she was weak, but she knew Kanji was only trying to help, and loathe she was to admit it, she probably did need help. “Thank you, Kanji-kun, but I do not believe I need any help. If I do require your help then you will know.”

At those words, the group began their journey out of the secret base.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I changed the ending part a bit bc I wanted more shipping.  
> Yukiko's cool and all but I wanted Kanji to be all for Naoto.


	9. Chapter 9

Kanji was anxious. Yu had mentioned that Naoto was returning to school today and he had no idea what to do. Should he mention his crush on the detective? When he was stuck with Naoto in the base, her shadow seemed to really want them together. Was he reading too much into this?

 _Should probably at least say “hi”_ , he figured.

When lunch rolled around, he decided to get up and go look for Naoto. To his surprise, the detective walked into his classroom almost right after lunch started.

When they met eyes, Naoto made her way towards Kanji, pretty much ignoring anyone who tried to get her attention, and stopped right in front of him. “Hello, Kanji-kun.”

“H-hey, Naoto.”

“Would you please meet me on the roof? I wish to converse with you privately.”

Naoto wanted to talk? Kanji was somewhat surprised. “Uh, yeah! If you wanna, sure!”

Naoto nodded, then hid her eyes with her cap. “…thank you. I will be waiting, then.” She then turned and left the room.

After Naoto left, Kanji rushed to grab anything he thought he might want to bring, then ran as fast as possible to catch up with the detective.

On the roof, they both sat down. Naoto looked conflicted, and Kanji waited for what she wanted to say.

“I…apologize,” she said quietly. “It was my Shadow that captured you and I should not have let that happen. It was my words that gave it the idea to do so in the first place. If there is anything that I can do to make it up to you…”

Kanji was shocked. He wasn’t expecting Naoto to apologize to him. “Oh man, Naoto. You don’t have to say that,” he started. “If anything, I’ve gotta say sorry to you. Senpai said that I was holdin’ ya hostage when I was out. If I did anything ‘cause of your Shadow… I wouldn’t know how t’ feel.”

“I… see. Thank you for your honesty.” Naoto started to look more uncomfortable. “However, there is one more thing I would like to talk about. It has to do with what my Shadow told me before it took you.”

Kanji remembered a few things Naoto’s Shadow had told him. “I remember your Shadow sayin’ that you ‘see so much’ in me or something like that. Dunno what it was talking about, though.

Kanji could have sworn he saw some red on Naoto’s cheeks. “About that…” She hesitated. “…it was right.”

“Huh?”

“You are admirable, Kanji-kun. You are the first person in a long time who accepts me for who I am. Narukami-senpai is nice, but something tells me he would want me to change, even if he meant good. You, however, allow me to go at my own pace. I remember how we conversed, back in the base, and you kept yourself from overstepping boundaries. You might not be the smartest, intellectually, but there is so much about you that overshadows that.”

Kanji just stared. Naoto was out here spilling her guts about him, where was she going with this?

Naoto looked at the ground, hiding her face with her hat. Her next words were almost too quiet to hear. “I think… my Shadow was right. I… like you, Kanji-kun.”

 _Wait, did I just hear that right?_ Kanji’s mind stopped. Naoto… _liked_ him? Did she mean as a friend?

“LIKE ME!?” Oops, he didn’t mean to shout so loud. He quieted himself after the outburst. “D’ya mean _like_ , like, or just like a friend or something…”

“I believe it is romantic in nature, but I also believe it is too early to tell. I do know that I respect you greatly, however.”

_That’s it, if Naoto’s gonna spill her guts, I will too._

“Uhh,” _great start, Tatsumi_ , “if it means anything, I like ya, too.”

Naoto looked shocked. “Really? Since when, may I ask?”

“Since we first met.”

Naoto’s eyes widened. “But you thought…”

Kanji scratched his head. “Yeah, I thought you were a guy. Gotta admit, it threw me for a loop. Made me confused as hell. Then I learned you were a girl, and while you were recovering, I realized my feelings didn’t change. If anything, they got stronger. Then I noticed, I liked Naoto Shirogane, no matter who they were. If ya think that’s weird, you can just say somethin’.”

“I do not think that is weird, Kanji-kun. Thank you… for everything.” Naoto was quiet for a bit. “So… what does this make us?”

“What d’ya mean?”

“Are we… dating? I admit, I have no idea of what is going on or what to do.”

Kanji gave a short laugh. “Me neither. And for the dating thing, if you don’t wanna, I don’t mind. Go at your own pace, you don’t gotta rush it.”

“I see. Well, lunch is about to end. I will see you after class, then?

“Sure, if ya want to.”

Naoto smiled as she got up and headed to the door to the roof. “Have a good day, Kanji.” Then she left.

Kanji was pretty sure he died right then and there.


	10. Chapter 10

Seeing Naoto trying to hide her wonder at the sight of the TV world made Kanji smile. She was asking so many questions, Yu and Teddie were having trouble keeping up.

“You’re happy today, I wonder why?” Kanji jumped slightly. Right next to him was Rise, with a mischievous grin on her face. “Is it because Naoto’s on the team now?”

Kanji racked his brain for a suitable response. After meeting up with Naoto after school the day they “got together”, she mentioned that she didn’t want the others knowing just yet. Kanji understood that she had her reasons for wanting that, so he agreed. “Um… I guess. Havin’ someone smart like her ‘s gonna help us get the killer.”

“And there aren’t any _other_ reasons that you might be happy?”

Kanji gritted his teeth. Rise was being really persistent about this topic today. It was bad enough his mom had caught on. Luckily, Yu called the team together so they could figure who was on the front lines.

“Ok,” the leader started, “Naoto needs to learn the ropes for fighting, so she’s definitely on the team. Now, who else…” his eyes scanned the others while he put his hand into a thinking position on his face. “Yukiko, you’ll be our healer for now.”

Teddie visibly deflated. “Sensei…”

“Sorry, Teddie.” Yu continued looking. “And… Kanji. You’ll be our heavy hitter.”

Kanji was a bit surprised and also somewhat relieved. He could mention that thing about his mom. He could also hang out with Naoto. Or however close beating the tar out of negative shards of humanity was to “hanging out”.

Kanji snapped out of whatever he was thinking about when Naoto spoke up. “Senpai, where exactly are we going for this training?”

Yu looked a little sheepish. “Well, I was going to go to the game, but I realized that the Shadows there would be too weak for us at this point and no one would get any real experience, so we’re going to the base.”

Naoto paled. “But-”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Yukiko interrupted, “your Shadow isn’t there anymore, just regular Shadows. The rest of the team also had to train in their own dungeons as well.”

Naoto’s face regained a bit of color, but she still seemed upset. “…very well.”

On the way to the secret base, Kanji decided this was the best time to tell Naoto what he needed to say. “Hey, Naoto.”

The detective looked his way, still agitated. “What is it, Kanji-kun?”

“I gotta tell ya something. It’s-”

Naoto held up a hand to cut Kanji off. “Is this important?”

“K-kinda…?”

“Is it best said in a more private location?”

“…probably.”

“Then tell me when we have finished this excursion in the TV.” After finishing her words, Naoto went back to looking in front of herself, and actually sped up her walking a bit.

* * *

Naoto felt bad at snapping at Kanji, but having to return to the place she was held captive for a time annoyed her to no end. The only reason she didn’t object completely is because Narukami was somewhat logical in his choice.

Naoto sighed. She would have to apologize to the tall punk and hear what he had to say later.

Inside the base, Naoto wondered how and why on Earth her mind made something like this. She was ripped out of her thoughts when Narukami stopped in front of her and the others.

Narukami looked toward Naoto. “Do you see that?” Ahead of the leader was a black blob with a mask. It was currently facing away from them. “That is a Shadow. We fight those to get stronger. They will not hesitate to try and kill you. Are you ready?”

Naoto nodded.

“Alright.” Her senpai sneaked up on it, and slammed into its back. It split into two old women-looking creatures with what looked like trees growing out of their backs and two red floating mouths with large tongues. Naoto had no idea what to think about these monsters.

“Ok,” Narukami spoke up, “let Naoto get her attacks in first.”

Naoto narrowed her eyes. “I do not need babying, Senpai.”

“Sorry, it’s just that if we went first there wouldn’t be anything to fight.”

“I see.”

Rise spoke up. “Naoto, the mouths are called Hableries, they’re weak to ice. The women with trees are called Nyogos. They’re weak to fire. Just don’t use fire on the Hableries and wind on the Nyogos and we’ll be fine.”

Naoto was so confused. There was so much to memorize, and this was her first fight! How was she ever going to be a useful member? She didn’t even know what skills she could use off the top of her head!

Naoto didn’t notice Kanji walk up next to her until he spoke up. “Don’t worry. It was like this when we started, too. Gets easier, trust me.”

Naoto allowed a small smile to appear on her face. “Thank you.” Looking inside herself, she realized she had a fire move. With a determined face, she summoned her persona. “Sukuna-Hikona, Agidyne!” The fire struck and destroyed one of the Nyogos. She destroyed the other one with another Agidyne, and looked at the Hableries. She wondered why she shouldn’t use fire against them. So when the fire was repelled back at her after she used another Agidyne, she understood why.

“It’s ok,” Narukami said as he helped her up, “all of us have done something like that before. You didn’t know. Now you do.” He summoned a Persona and used ice to destroy the Hableries.

Throughout their training, Naoto learned just how diverse her moveset was. Besides fire, she also had wind, light and dark (which she was told were somewhat inaccurate, but very powerful), some physical moves, and a move that did almighty damage, which was incredibly powerful. She felt that she was going to be useful to the team, even if she was new.

As they left the TV world, Naoto almost forgot that Kanji wanted to say something to her. As she and him walked back to her apartment, Naoto spoke up. “I am sorry, Kanji. Hearing that we were returning to the place that I was trapped in agitated me somewhat. Now that we are in a more private setting, what were you going to tell me?”

Kanji scratched the back of his head. “Ya ain’t gonna like this… I think Ma sorta knows about us.”

“What?”

“Yeah, or at least she somehow learned me and you were friends or something.”

“You and I.” The correction was out before Naoto even noticed. “I apologize. What does your mother think about our relationship?”

“’s fine.” The taller boy didn’t seem offended. “And about the other thing… I dunno. She just said to invite you over for dinner one of these days. I think she wants to meet ya.

Dinner? Naoto felt that this was moving too fast for her liking. Did this even count as a date? Kanji’s mother was going to be there as well!

“It’s fine!” Kanji’s voice cut through her thoughts. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’ll just tell Ma you’re busy or something.”

Naoto thought it was sweet that he was considering her feelings, but she could do this. She was a strong Shirogane! This was just like interrogating a suspect!

…maybe that was too much. But the thought still stood. “It is fine, Kanji. You do not have to lie for my sake. Maybe it will be nice to meet your mother and have dinner with her.”

Kanji’s eyes widened. “Really? You’ll do it?”

Naoto nodded.

“Well, I guess I’ll text ya later about when you’re invited, then.

That night, as Naoto was getting ready to go to bed, she heard her phone go off. It was a text from Kanji. “ **Ma said she wants to have you over tomorrow at around 6:30 PM. Is that fine with you?** ”

“ **THAT IS FINE. C U TMRW** ” After glancing at the text, Naoto decided to add a bit more. “ **GN** ”

“ **Good night.** ”

Naoto lay down on her bed and closed her eyes. Today was interesting, and she was sure tomorrow was going to be just as interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea if Naoto's skillset is even right. I just rescued her so I had to google her starting moveset.  
> So if I'm wrong oops.  
> As you can tell, I'm playing P4G


	11. Chapter 11

Rise wanted to know what on Earth Kanji and Naoto’s relationship was. The boy’s crush on Naoto was visible from space, but whenever she brought it up, he always managed to change the topic, or something else interrupted their conversation. So today, she was going to corner Kanji in his own house and get some answers!

Unfortunately, Kanji was in the middle of cooking something, but his mom was happy to have a conversation.

“Kanji has made so many friends these past few months. I’m so glad, thank you for being friends with him.”

Rise smiled. “It’s no problem, Tatsumi-san! Kanji’s pretty cool to be around, and he makes some pretty cute things as well!”

The elder lady hummed. “Do you know about that detective boy? I can tell my Kanji has gotten quite close to him over these past few weeks. I feel like he and Kanji have some kind of bond that is different than your little group, and I wish to know for myself.”

Rise nodded. _Tatsumi-san doesn’t seem to know about Naoto’s gender yet. Might as well not mention it if Kanji hasn’t._ “I know right? I mean he has a crush visible from the moon and they only seem to be really close friends. I don’t get how Naoto doesn’t see it!”

“Does not see what?”

The idol and mother turned toward the entrance to see the detective in question standing there. “Do I wish to know what you were talking about, Kujikawa-san?”

Rise waved her off, feigning being upset. “It’s nothing. And I told you, call me Rise! We’re in the same grade, and we’re friends! No need to be so formal.”

Naoto sighed, pulling down her cap over her eyes. “Very well. _Rise_ -san, is there any reason as to why you are here?”

“I was just talking to Tatsumi-san about some stuff, then you showed up.” Rise then pursed her lips. “That reminds me, I have to get back to the shop.” She started walking towards the entrance to the store. “It was nice seeing you, Tatsumi-san! See you later, Naoto!”

* * *

As ~~Kujika~~ Rise left the shop, Naoto wondered what the two exactly were talking about. _I hope it was not about me,_ the detective thought. Rise always heavily implied that Kanji had a large crush on her, and if it were not for the events with her Shadow and the fact that Naoto was already “together” with Kanji, she would have completely dismissed the idol’s words.

But Naoto was not here to think about Rise Kujikawa and her habits. “Hello, Tatsumi-san. I am Naoto Shirogane, Kanji-kun’s friend. It is nice to meet you outside of the case. Thank you for inviting me.”

“Oh, what a polite young man you are!”

Naoto blinked. _Man? Kanji never told his mother?_ “Tatsumi-san, I apologize, but I am female.”

“Oh, is that so? I heard from others in the Shopping District, but I dismissed them as baseless rumors. I suppose there was some truth to their words.”

There was thumping from further into the store, and Kanji popped his head out of a doorway. “Hey Ma, have you seen the-“ He then noticed the detective. “Oh, hey Naoto.”

“Kanji-kun, did you not tell your mother that I am female?”

“…No? Ma doesn’t really listen to that kinda stuff anyway, and I didn’t know if ya wanted others to know.”

Naoto quietly groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Kanji-kun. The entire student body knows about my gender. Almost all of Inaba knows at this point. There was almost no reason not to mention this to your mother.”

Tatsumi clapped her hands together. “Well, I do know now.” She turned towards her son. “Kanji, how is dinner coming along?”

“Oh yeah, I was trying to find something.”

“Well, I believe we should all go back so we can prepare for dinner.”

As they headed deeper into the abode, Kanji sneaked closer to Naoto. “Hey,” he whispered, “should I tell Ma about us?”

Naoto placed a hand on her chin. The mother didn’t really listen to the gossip, so chances were she did not join in on it. She did have a conversation with Rise, however… “If we have her swear to secrecy…”

“Yeah… Ma likes to talk about me. But I guess if you’re part of it, she’ll stay quiet.”

“I suppose. However, Tatsumi-san was talking to Rise-san.”

“…Oh.”

“Oh, indeed. I propose that if she mentions it, we tell her.”

“That makes sense. ‘K, let’s do that.”

As the three had dinner, Naoto was asked many questions about her work, and how she was friends with Kanji and the others, but her relationship status with Kanji was never brought up. But as they talked, she saw a knowing look from the elder Tatsumi, and she knew that the mother knew. But, based off her lack of speaking about the subject, Naoto assumed that she could be trusted to keep quiet.

As she was leaving, Naoto reflected on her experience with the Tatsumis, and realized she could get used to something like this, and didn’t know how to feel about it.

She still allowed herself a small smile. Inaba was a place she could come back to, case or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been 9000000000 years.  
> Just kidding. I wanted to do this chapter earlier but I never got to it.  
> Also I was blowing up the Reaper in P4G.  
> Why is it so easy to overlevel in that game? Is it because I'm on normal difficulty?  
> I guess fighting pretty much everything in your way while getting exp up cards helps.  
> Btw i have the values for exp gain not increased.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a pretty short chapter and it's been a while. I had no idea how to start the chapter. Also, school. School is a thing.

Kanji was walking towards the entrance of Yasogami High. The culture festival was coming up, and he couldn’t care less about it. The only reason he was going to show up was because of mandatory attendance.

As he made his way to the front of the school, he saw Naoto standing in front of the board that held the school’s announcements and stuff. Before he could say hi, however, he noticed that she was slightly pale.

“Hey,” Kanji said, somewhat worriedly, “y’ ok?”

Naoto, who didn’t seem to notice Kanji was there at first, jumped slightly. She turned her head to face the punk, then went back to looking at the board. “Someone,” she quietly stated, “thought it was a good idea to sign me up for the Miss Yasogami Pageant.” The small detective then sighed. “I would be less upset if it were not for the fact that Kashiwagi-sensei refuses to let anyone drop out, even if they did not sign themselves up.”

Kanji scowled. “What the hell? What kinda teacher doesn’t let someone drop out if they didn’t sign up in the first place?” He glanced at the sign-up sheet. “D’ya even know who signed you up in the first place?”

Kanji noticed Naoto pause for a bit. “…I believe it was somebody on the Investigation Team.”

The punk’s scowl deepened. “What makes ya think that?”

The detective pointed toward the sign-up sheet. “Besides Kashiwagi-sensei and Ohtani-san, the only people signed up are Satonaka-senpai, Amagi-senpai, Rise-san, and…” she gulped, “me. The handwriting for the four of us is the same as well.”

After taking a closer look at the sheet, Kanji growled. “Yep, that’s the same handwriting alright. I think I know who’s it is, too.”

Before he could say who he thought it was, Chie walked up to them. “Hey guys, what’s up!” She then noticed how upset Kanji and Naoto were. “Are you guys ok?”

Naoto sighed. “Physically, yes. Psychologically, that is debatable.”

“…What happened?”

Kanji scoffed and pointed towards the sheet. “Yosuke-senpai happened. Take a look for yourself.”

His senpai walked up to take a closer look. A few seconds later, he heard a loud growl escape her throat. “That’s him alright. Only he would be stupid enough to try and sign us all up and think he could get away with it.”

Chie then tore off up the stairs, all while yelling “ _Hanamura_ ” in the most terrifying way Kanji had ever heard. Kanji wondered if Yosuke even deserved what Chie was going to do to him. As he turned back towards Naoto and saw her blank look, he hoped Yosuke got what he deserved twice over.


	13. Chapter 13

In retrospect, Kanji should’ve known the girls would pull something like this. Not long after Yosuke signed the girls up for the Miss Yasogami Pageant, All the boys were signed up for the “Miss” Yasogami Pageant: a drag contest. Yukiko, Chie, and Naoto said that they didn’t really want to sign him and Yu up, but Rise said that it would be more interesting and signed them up anyway.

Now the pageant was about to start, and he was going to be the first up. Kanji grumbled. Rise said she was going to make him look great, but looking great didn’t mean shit if he was going to be the laughingstock of the whole school. At least he wasn’t the only one going out on stage, and Naoto would be there.

Naoto was probably the only person he wouldn’t mind laughing at him. Either that or her laughs would hurt the most.

As the announcer started introducing him, Kanji sighed. “Might as well go all out,” he mumbled as he stepped onto the stage, ready to give the audience a show they would never forget.

* * *

Naoto wasn’t sure what she expected Kanji to look like in drag, but she didn’t think Marilyn Monroe was it. To be honest, she thought he looked good, in a strange sort of way.

The detective felt her arm get jostled. Looking, Naoto saw Rise looking like she was about to explode from excitement. “That’s your man,” the idol almost squealed.

Naoto scoffed. “You are being ridiculous, Rise-san. Kanji-kun is not ‘my man’, any more than he is yours. He belongs to himself.”

Rise pouted and crossed her arms. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

Naoto had to commend Rise’s tenacity. If only it wasn’t focused on her at the moment…

Looking back where Kanji was, she saw the rest of the boys on stage, and Teddie having what seemed to be the time of his life. Besides Hanamura, they all looked good in their drag costumes. Teddie looked like an actual girl; Naoto suspected he cheated a bit to achieve that look, as she was the one who did his makeup, and she for one had no idea what she was doing.

The announcer had finished tallying the votes, and to no one’s surprise, Teddie had won the “Miss” Yasogami High pageant. His prize was that he got to be a judge in the actual Miss Yasogami contest. What was said next, however, made Naoto freeze.

“As judge, I declare that the girls have to do a swimsuit contest!” the bear-turned-human yelled loud enough for the entire planet to hear.

_WHAT,_ Naoto internally screeched. There was no way the school faculty would allow this, right? Looking toward Rise to voice her concern, she instead saw the idol looking thoughtful, while holding a hand to her chin. “Dang,” Naoto could have sworn she heard her mumble, “I left my swimsuit at home…”

Feeling a migraine coming on, Naoto rubbed her temples. She couldn’t believe what was going on. Not only did she have to stand in front of a large part of the student body for them to see, she had to do it in a swimsuit.

Naoto felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Rise. “Hey,” the idol said, “it’s our turn soon, let’s go get ready.”

At first, Naoto didn’t want to move. Her throat was dry, and she was too nervous. Looking back to the stage where Kanji was however, she steeled her resolve. If he could do it, so could she.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who finally beat Persona 4 Golden not too long ago! Yeah the final boss fight was really easy, especially considering that a) I was level 99 and b) the boss fight for the dungeon before it was technically a lot harder  
> So I start a NG+ almost immediately after, decide to play on hard, and died to Shadow Yosuke. It was Not Fun™  
> Anyway, Miss Yasogami time! AKA the time everyone wanted to throw Teddie out the window! Listen, I like you, Teddie, just not these moments that you have.


	14. Chapter 14

Standing in one of the wings of the school’s stage, Naoto wondered how on Earth deciding to take on a murder case lead to her participating in a swimsuit pageant. Thankfully, the introductory section didn’t require the swimsuits, but that meant that she was only postponing the inevitable.

Kashiwagi and Ohtani both were called to the stage, but Naoto ignored their introductions. She didn’t really know Ohtani, as she had nothing to do with the case, so she didn’t really care, and Kashiwagi was the reason she was in this mess in the first place, so she absolutely didn’t care what she said or did.

 ~~Sato~~ Chie was the first member of the team up, and strangely, she said her favorite food was pudding. Naoto knew that was incredibly wrong based on her somewhat limited time with her, and ~~Hanamu~~ Yosuke seemed to agree, yelling “you liar, it’s meat,” which got a predictable response of anger from the girl.

Next was ~~Amagi~~ Yukiko, who spoke as if she were advertising the Amagi inn. Even though the entire school population lived in the area, they cheered after Yukiko said they should stay and visit the hot springs. Although she would never admit it, Naoto secretly wished to visit the hot springs. She just wasn’t ready for sharing the space with anyone, except maybe the girls on the team. Even then, they were a handful, so she wasn’t exactly sure.

After Yukiko was Rise, who acted as her Risette persona, even though she was “on hiatus”, and Naoto had to hold in a groan. The detective suspected the idol was doing that in order to have a head start in votes in order to win. Naoto had to admit, though, that it was an effective technique. Using your popularity to gain an advantage was a good idea in a competition such as this.

As the MC called for her to go onstage, Naoto hesitated. She really didn’t want to go on that stage and be seen by the other students.

 _This is so demeaning,_ the small detective thought as she made her way to the front of the stage. Looking in front of her, she froze. The audience seemed much larger to her than when she was among them, there was no way she could do this! She wished she had brought her hat along like normal, but for the contest, she decided to wear her regular heavier clothes while forgoing the hat.

Before she could bolt off the stage, however, her eyes locked with Kanji’s, and he sent a big grin followed by a thumbs-up that was almost hidden by the torsos of the other students. That small gesture allowed Naoto to relax just enough to get rid of the lump in her throat and introduce herself to the audience.

“M-my name is Naoto Shirogane,” the detective stuttered. She was so nervous that she couldn’t help but slip back to her more natural voice range, and she cursed herself for that. “M-my… this is beyond my wildest dreams…” _and nightmares,_ she wanted to add, “I never would have expected someone like myself to ever set foot on stage for a pageant such as this.”

As if Naoto had said the most inspiring speech in the entire world, the audience roared and clapped almost, if not as much, as when they cheered for Rise. Instead of making her feel better, it made Naoto feel worse. She somewhat felt like a trophy that was only good to see, and she worried that her fellow students would only see her like this from now on.

After the sounds died down, the MC announced that before they left to change, Teddie would be asking each girl a question.

Teddie walked onto the stage with a big smile on his face. _Does he have any idea what he has done,_ Naoto wondered, _he lives with Yosuke-senpai, so chances are slim that he is completely innocent._

“Ahem, I am Teddie, and I will be your judge for tonight,” the blond said, adding a bit of flair in his voice to seem more authoritative, but it made him seem sillier than he already was. “Be warned,” he continued, “if you anger me… you’ll be at a disadvantage.”

To Naoto’s surprise, Teddie completely skipped Kashiwagi and Ohtani. As far as she knew, Teddie wanted to hit on any girl. However, based on this interaction, it seemed that he would hit on any girl that was specifically on the investigation team.

However, staying within a specific group of people was pointless if he was going to ask somewhat private questions that no person would want to answer in front of an audience.

Naoto braced herself for the question she was going to be asked, but she was prepared for a more romantic question.

“Miss Naoto,” the bear started, “where are you ticklish?”

If Naoto was a computer, she would have blue screened on the spot. “W-what?” There was no way she would ever tell anyone this, but she actually was incredibly ticklish all over her body. There was no reason to tell Teddie, or anyone on the team for that matter, even if they were alone, which they _were not_.

The announcer, probably feeling sorry for the competitors, decided to take charge. Unfortunately, that meant mentioning that there was a swimsuit competition in the first place, all thanks to Teddie.

Perhaps during their next excursion in the TV, Naoto could “accidentally” hit Teddie with Megidola… It was easy enough to “miss” considering how much they move around during battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First half of the pageant is done!  
> Also thanks ReichVictor for the Megidola idea lol  
> Also nice knowing me I accidentally typed Kawakami instead of Kashiwagi while typing this chapter end my life please
> 
> Naoto on stage: Is it possible to Mudoon myself?

**Author's Note:**

> Imagine writing this based on what you remember from the anime and manga and not having completed the main game yet.  
> Yikes idk how this will end


End file.
